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The Jewish Calendar plus Date Conversion Help
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A JewishGen InfoFile
I. Introduction:
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The Jewish calendar (Hebrew "luach") consists of 12 months calculated
according to lunar cycle. The months are Nisan, Iyyar, Sivan, Tammuz,
Av, Elul, Tishre, Heshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, and Adar (and Adar II
in a leap year).
Numbering of years is calculated from creation of the world, which
coincided with 3760 BCE. The year 5000 began on 1 September 1239. To
calculate the Jewish year since 1240, deduct *1240* from our year of the
Common Era (CE), and add 5000. For dates in September-December another
year is added. (Calculation aids below.)
II. To convert a Hebrew year to an English year:
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(By: Shmuel & Anat Kahn )
Hebrew letters also have a numerical value.
Alef = 1 Yod = 10 Kuf = 100
Bet/Vet = 2 Khaf/Kaf = 20 Raish = 200
Gimmel = 3 Lamed = 30 Shin/Sin = 300
Daled = 4 Mem = 40 Taf/Saf = 400
Hai = 5 Nun = 50
Vav = 6 Samech = 60
Zayin = 7 Ahyin = 70
Khet = 8 Pay/Fay = 80
Tet = 9 Tzadi = 90
Any number that is NOT in this list is represented by a combination (i.e
sum) of a number of letters. For example Nun-Tet would be 50+9=59. This
is valid for any number in the 1-1000 range, with two exceptions 15 and
16, as yud-hai (15) and yud-vav (16) are subsets of G-ds name, these
combinations aren't used, and instead we use Tev-Vav (9+6=15) and
Tev-Zayin (9+7=16).
If a letter in the Alef through Hai range appears at the BEGINNING of
the number (to the right) with a single quote (') this denotes the
thousand.
Often a Hebrew date after the year 5000 will leave off the number 5 in
the thousands column. This is common on gravestones. In that case be
sure to add 5000 to the sum. Example: If the letters are
taf-raish-nun, the total would be 400+200+50=650 +5000=5650.
These values also hold when doing jewish "numerology" know as Gimatriya.
III. Hebrew to/from Gregorian date conversion programs:
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o To manually convert years, use the magic number *1240*.
To convert Hebrew to Gregorian years:
Add the number 1240 to the shortened Hebrew year.
Example: Taf-raish-nun = 400+200+50 =650 +1240 =(G)1890
Note: The precise year actually depends on the month involved.
o To convert Gregorian to Hebrew years:
Subtract the number 1240 from the Gregorian year.
Example: (G)1890 -1240 =(H)5650
Note: The precise year actually depends on the month involved.
o JOS, JewishGen's calculator robot calculates dates to/from Gregorian
and Jewish calendars.
http://www.jewishgen.org/jos/
o Convert Hebrew letters to numbers
(With pictures, great if your can't read Hebrew)
Jewish Years - Character Conversion Program
http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/m_jyear.htm
The following computer programs may be available. No endorsement is
implied by their presence here.
o HAYOM. MAC or Windows versions, by A.G. Reinhold, 14 Fresh Pond Place,
Cambridge MA 02138.
o JCAL76 (DOS Ver.7.6) and Windows (Ver. 1.7), Shareware, by Les Penner,
25 Shadow Lane, Great Neck NY 11021. <75236.1572@compuserve.com>
o LUACH. Freeware by Rabbi Joseph Schachter, POB 24025, Jerusalem 91240
Israel.
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[28Jan98]bik
Provider: Bernard Kouchel
Copyright 1998 JewishGen, Inc.
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